Santa Fe International Folk Art Market

Market Update on Haitian Artists as of January 26, 2010

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

All of the Market Artists from Haiti Survived the Earthquake.

Serge Jolimeau, Georges Valris, Michee Ramil Remy, Pierre Edgar Satyr and Marie Bernard Pascale Faublas (Marie will be new to the 2010 Folk Art Market) are alive and uninjured according to Market contacts on the ground in Haiti. However, their personal and community losses have been substantial. Their homes have been destroyed or damaged severely, their livelihoods disrupted. Georges’s sister lost her three children. Pierre’s house collapsed.

The Market will continue to reach out to the artists, their families and communities so that we remain connected and informed as their situation unfolds.

Thanks to the generosity of Market supporters, the Market Artist Relief Fund has grown to over $14,000. These generous donations will help us help them directly and according to the needs they themselves identify.

If you would like to make an online contribution to the Artist Relief Fund, please use the button displayed here.

Or, call us at 505-476-1196.

Let us all hold Haiti in our hearts and prayers.

Market Update on the Tragedy in Haiti

Monday, January 18, 2010

Please, Give to Relief Efforts

The earthquake in Haiti has affected us all deeply.  Through the Market, so many have developed meaningful and lasting friendships with artists from Haiti and across the globe.  As you know, Haiti--the poorest country in our hemisphere--is now faced with a devastating crisis of unimaginable proportions.

We encourage all of our Market supporters to respond to this crisis by donating to one of the many aid organizations in Haiti who are providing relief efforts including immediate care and medical services in Haiti.  Here are links to organizations with long histories of working in Haiti on the ground:

• American Red Cross International Response Fund
• Mercy Corps Haiti Earthquake Fund
• Partners in Health
• UNICEF
• UN World Food Programme
• CHF International

What we know so far

It has been difficult to obtain reports on the status of our friends in Haiti, despite numerous and ongoing attempts to do so.  Thanks to Aid to Artisans, we were happy to learn today that “Noailles-artisans around Serge Jolimeau suffered no personal loss.” Still no word on Serge himself, though. 

We are particularly concerned about our friends in Jacmel, Pierre Edgard Satyr, Marie Bernard Pascale Faublas and the other papier-mache artists in Association Pour Le Developpement de l’Artisanat du Sud’est.  We understand that Jacmel has sustained considerable damage.

Inquiries are out through our partners at CHF International and the Clinton Global Initiative and we will keep you updated as we find out more about the well being of the other artists who are part of the Market family.

The Market Response

In response to inquiries from several donors, and a lead gift from the Domanica Foundation, the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market has now established an Artist Relief Fund. This fund will provide needed support for Haitian artists who were chosen to participate in the 2010 Folk Art Market. In the future this permanent fund will assist Market artists who face other unforeseen crises or special circumstances of need. 

If you would like to make an online contribution to the Artist Relief Fund, please use the button displayed here.

Or, call us at 505-476-1196.

Let us all hold Haiti in our hearts and prayers.

Our hearts go out to Haiti and our many Market friends there

Thursday, January 14, 2010

No matter where in the world they occur, natural disasters and the human tragedies that ensue, affect us all.

But here at the Market, where staff and volunteers alike develop friendships with many of the artists who come to the Market each year, our concern for those we know in Haiti is very personal. 

Today Ernesto emailed all available contacts to seek information on the well-being of such friends as George Valris (sequin flag maker), Serge Jolimeau and Michee Ramil Remy (recycled metal sculptors), and Pierre Edgard Satyr and the other cooperative members in Jacmel (papier-mache makers), among others. 

If any of you has information about their status, please let us know. 

Many of us want to help.  Right now, what is needed most are financial contributions and volunteer medical help.

I just made a gift to Paul Farmer’s Partners in Health. PIH runs health programs in rural Haiti and their hospital, located just two hours outside of Port-au-Prince, was not affected by the quake. 

They are a great organization with a long commitment to Haiti. See: www.pih.org.

Kelly Waller sent her colleagues an email suggesting OXFAM. 

We are also working with our partners at CHF International to find out more about our Market artists in Haiti.

Finally, here is a list of charities suggested by the Clinton Foundation.

Gifts of any size will make a difference.

As this tragedy unfolds, let us all keep Haiti in our thoughts and prayers.

Charlene Cerny
Executive Director